Microsoft Expands Footprint in City of Bellevue

Company leases 1.3 million square feet of office space to better accommodate current and future employee base in Puget Sound region.

Microsoft Corp. today announced that it will expand its presence in the city of Bellevue, Wash., by leasing office space in two major complexes under construction.

Microsoft will occupy just over 600,000 square feet in the Advanta office commons in southeast Bellevue, located west of I-90, and nearly 740,000 square feet in the Bravern complex in downtown Bellevue, adjacent to Meydenbauer Center. When both projects are completed, the new locations will provide new work space for approximately 4,000 Microsoft people, made up of a combination of the current and future work force. Microsoft will begin to move people into the Advanta facilities at the end of 2007 and into next year, and will move into the Bravern complex starting late next year and into 2009.

“Microsoft continues to grow at a rapid pace across all our businesses — software, games, entertainment, search, mobile and business applications,” said Chris Owens, general manager of real estate and facilities at Microsoft. “Adding additional work space in Puget Sound, the company’s center of gravity, helps address our current space limitations and ensures that we are prepared for future growth.”

“We are very pleased with the high demand for office and retail space in the city of Bellevue, and the strong interest we are experiencing for our properties,” said Dan Ivanoff, co-founder of Schnitzer Northwest LLC. “The addition of Microsoft to our Bravern and Advanta developments, coupled with other high-profile tenants such as Neiman Marcus, will most definitely result in a significant, positive impact on our local economy.”

In February 2006 Microsoft announced that it would accelerate campus development plans, expanding its Redmond, Wash., campus by one-third of its current size — including new development on the company’s main Redmond campus and leased space within the surrounding area — which would make it one of the world’s largest corporate campuses. The expansion announced today is in addition to the company’s previous plans, which are in progress and on schedule to be completed in 2009.